I am constantly going back over photos I took of gallery labels in museums - not enough time or energy to read them all while I'm there, so I capture as much as I can to keep, read, and reference later.

On this label for a byobu of Edo castle at the National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku), we find the following phrase:

「徳川家門（第７扇の松江藩」および外様の国持クラスの大名（第１扇の岡山藩、第３扇の米沢藩...」

I understand that all those listed are daimyo of kunimochi or equivalent rank. But I don't think I've ever seen 扇 used in this way. What does it signify? What order are they in, that would put Okayama first, Satsuma seventh, and Sendai eighth?

Ah. Never mind. My colleague in Chinese history helped me figure it out - my mistake was assuming it referred somehow to ranks or categories of daimyo. We are now thinking it refers to which section of the screen those samurai can be seen on.

Since 扇 is a paper fan, it kind of makes sense that it might be used to count leafs of a screen - which are also paper over a frame. Not something I had come across before. (Incidentally, seki 隻 is the counter for a number of screens, and sou 雙 for how many pairs of screens.)_________________My blog on Japanese art & history: http://chaari.wordpress.com